Treatment of cellulose acetate



Patei'lod Aug. '6, 1929.

' UNITED STATES 1,123,230 PATENT OFFICE.

GEOBGE HOLLAND ELLIS, OI IYOHDON, NILE DERBY, ENGLAND, ABSIGNOB TO CORPORATION 01' AIEBIOA, A CORPORATION 01 DELAWARE.

TREATMENT CELLUL OSE ACETATE.

Io Drawing. Application filed September 11, 1925, Serial 80. 55,888, and in Great Britain September 28, 1924.

This invention relates to the d eing, printing or stencilling of acetyl cellu ose in yarn,

thread, fabric, film or other form, and it has for its principal object to produce or render 5 dyeings or colourings thereon of improved fastness to light.

The invention may be employed in connection with any dyes, colouring matters or colouring compounds applicable for the dyeing, printing or stencilling of cellulose acetate and is of especial value in connection with those of poor or relatively low resistance to light.

Among the dyestuffs or colouring matters 1 or compounds which are a plicable for the dyeing, printing or stencilling of acetyl cellulose, whether already known or specially synthesized therefor, and whether soluble or insoluble in water, a number give shades on acetyl cellulose which are of cor or relatively poor resistance to the fa ing action of li ht. v

1 have made the remarkable discovery that dyeings or colourings yielded on acetyl cellulose by such dyestufi's, colouring matters or compounds can be very greatly improved in resistance to light by treatment of the dyed, printed or stencilled acetyl cellulose goods (all hereinafter in the claims included in the term coloured materials comprising cellulose acetate) with one or more agents being simple organic amino compounds, which term likewise includes substituted amino compounds, and that even in the case of dyestuifs, colouring matters or colouring compounds giving dyeing or colourings of good fastness to light on acetyl cellulose, the resistance to light of the shades can be improved by such after-treatment.

The amino compounds which I have found particularly efiicacious for the purpose are aniline and substituted or alkylated anilines or alkylated phenylene diamines such as the tetra-ethyl-phenylene-diamines.

Among such substances I have found that the degree of efiicacy increases with the degree of alkylation, thus mono-ethylaniline is better than aniline itself, whilst diethyl aniline is better than the mono compounds in its protective action.

The amino compound or compounds may be applied through any suitable media, for instance in the form of their hydrochloride or other soluble salt. Or they may be solubilized or dispersed by treatment with solubilizing or dispersing agents of the character referred to in my prior British specification No. 219349, No. 224925 or No. 22153/ 1924, or in the prior British s ecification of the present applicant and W. Goldthorpe N 0. 19292/ 1924, and in the U. S. applications Serial Nos. 664780, 664781, 50525, and 48666 corresponding respectively to said British specifications.

The solubilizing or dispersing agents referred to in my said British Specification 219349 and in my corresponding U. S. application Scrial No. 664,780 are, as therein stated, bodies of oily or fatty characteristics or salts thereof, namely sulphoricinoleic acid and other sulphonated fatty acids, or salts of such acids such as their alkali or ammonium salts, or other bodies having oily or fatty characteristics, i. e. higher fatty acids or sulphonated or other derivatives thereof containing salt-forming groups or salts of such acids or bodies such as their alkali or ammonium salts or mixtures of any of these bodies or salts.

The solubilizing or dispering agents referred to in the said British Specification 224925 and corresponding U. S. application Serial No. 664,781 are carbocyclic compounds containing in their structure one or more salt-forming groups (whether the compound contains only one kind of these groups or different kinds of these groups at the same time) or sodium or other salts of said compounds, and may be used alone or 1n mixture with the solubilizing or dispersingagents ,of the said British Specification 219349 and corresponding U. S. application Serial No. 664,780. They comprise a wide range of organic derivatives containing in their structure one or more salt-forming groups such as the sulphonic, carboxyl or hydroxyl groups, whether the compound contains only one kind or different kinds of these groups; for example said carbocyclic compounds comprise phenols,sulphonic acids, carboxylic acids, phenol sulphonic acids or other derivatives of the benzene, naphthalene or anthracene series, containing one or more of any of the said groups; or derivatives of other cyclic hydrocarbons, saturated or nonsaturated, containing one or more of the above mentioned groups, such for example as the naphthenic acids (such as occur naturally in Caucasian petroleum), naphthene sulphonic acids or other carboxylic or su1- some colouring matters phonic acids of the cycloparafiins; or the sodium or other salts of any of the derivatives referred to.

The solubilizing or dispersin agents referred to in the said British pecification No. 22158/1924 and corresponding U. S. application Serial N 0. 50,525 comprise sulpho aromatic acids such as sulpho benzene stearic acid Twitchell reagent), or derivatives thereo such as sulpho phenol stear'ic acid or sulpho naphthalene stearic acid, or salts of such bodies.

In the said British specification of the present applicant and W. O. Goldthorpe, No. 19292/1924 and corresponding U. S. application Serial No. 48,666, bodies therein termed secondary or auxiliary solvents are employed in conjunction with sulphoricinoleic acid or other bodies of oily or fatty characteristics such as hereinbefore referred to, or with salts of such bodies. As stated in the said specification, such secondary or auxiliary solvents comprise a wide range of chemical compounds, and those found especially useful comprise alkyl or alkylene halides such for instance as tetrachlorethane, trichlorethylene; simple or mixed derivatives of the cyclic or aromatic series containing one or more amino, chlor, or hydroxy groups, such for vexample as cresols, alkylanilines, toluidines, chlorphenols, mono or polychlor benzenes; hydrogenated deriva tives of such or other aromatic compounds, such for example as hexahydrophenol, hexahydrocresols, hexadrobenzene, dekahydronaphthalene, tetrahydronaphthalene and the like.

\Vhere the amino compound itself has a 'sufiicient water solubility it can of course be applied as suchin plain aqueous solution. Some of such simple amino compounds show the tendency themselves to undergo oxidation on exposure under the catalytic influence of light, giving dark coloured products, for example diphenylamine, para-ainidophenol, paraphenylene diamine. Thus we prefer to use those such as are first instanced above and which do not show this property to an appreciable degree.

Colouring matters, the shades of which on acetyl cellulose are greatly enhanced inresistance to light by the above methods fall within many different classes, but the improvement has been found more generally marked in the azo class. Examples of yielding shades loose to light in the ordinary Way but enormously improved by treatments according to the invention are: benzeneazoalphanaphthylamine, benzeneazophenylmethylpyrazolone, benzeneazobenzeneazobetanaphthol, quinophthalone (quinoline yellow base), alphaamidoazonapthalene.

A very great advantage of the processes of the present invention is that such simple Eat-(maple.

100 lbs. of acetyl cellulose knitted fabric is dyed in any suitable manner with an aqueour hydrochloric acid solution of benzeneazoalphanaphthylamine. The fastness to light of the yellow shade thus achieved is very poor. Three pounds of diethylaniline hydrochloride are now dissolved in water and added to a fresh aqueous bath and the above dyed material worked in this until no more amine is absorbed. The shade now obtained will be of very much superior resistance to the action of light.

The invention may of course be applied to dyed. printed or stencilled goods'whether consisting wholly of cellulose acetate filaments or fibres or consisting partly thereof and partly of another or other fibre or fibres, as for example in mixed yarns or fabrics, and all such goods are referred to in the claims as colored materials comprising cellulose acetate.

What I claim and desire to ters Patent is 1. Process for the treatment of colored materials comprising cellulose acetate for the purpose of increasing their fastness to light, said process comprising treating said materials with at least one simple organic amino compound.

2. Process for the treatment of colored materials comprising cellulose acetate for the purpose of increasing their fastness to light, said process comprising treating said materials with at least one simple organic amino compound in the form of its hydrochloride.

3. Process for the treatment of colored materials comprising cellulose acetate for the purpose of increasing their fastness to light, said process comprising treating said materials with a simple aromatic amino compound.

4:. Process for the treatment of colored materials comprising cellulose acetate for the purpose of increasing their fastness to light, said process comprising treating said materials with a simple alkylated aniline.

5. Process for the treatment of colored materials comprising cellulose acetate for the purpose of increasing their fastness to light, said process comprising treating said secure by Letmaterials with an alkylated aniline in the materials with diethylaniline in the form form of its hydrochloride. of its hydrochloride.

6. Process for the treatment of colored 8. Process for the treatment of colored materials comprising cellulose acetate for materials com rising cellulose acetate for 15 5 the purpose of increasing their fastnessto the purpose 0 increasing their fastness'to light, said process comprising treating said light, said process comprising treating said materials with diethylaniline. materials with a simple aromatic amino 7. Process for the treatment of colored compound in the form of its h drochloride. materials com rising cellulose acetate for In testimony whereof Ihave ereunto sub- 20 10 the purpose 0 increasing their fastness to scribed my name.

light, said process comprising treating said GEORGE HOLLAND ELLIS. 

